Washington [US], July 4: A shooting at a holiday block party in Baltimore over the weekend that left two people dead and 28 injured highlights a sustained surge in mass shootings in the United States since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
As of Monday, 340 mass shootings have taken place across the country so far this year. At that pace, the United States will experience 679 mass shootings in 2023, the second most in a calendar year since 2014, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In 2019, the year before the pandemic caused far-reaching changes in the way Americans work, play and interact with one another, the number of mass shootings reached 417, or about 61% fewer than the projected total for 2023.
Just after midnight on Sunday, gunfire erupted at the scene of an outdoor neighbourhood block party in South Baltimore's Brooklyn Homes community. Fifteen of the injured victims were between the ages of 13 and 17, and the rest were over 17, Baltimore's acting police commissioner Richard Worley told reporters on Monday. The two people killed were 18 and 20.
Seven people were still hospitalized on Monday, four of whom were in critical condition, officials said. Investigators have asked for the public's help in tracking down multiple suspects. Police said they were concerned about retaliation for the shootings.
The rise in mass shootings over the last three years is partly due to the impact the pandemic has had on Americans, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University.
Gun ownership, guaranteed under the second amendment of the Constitution, is widespread in the United States, and it is a contentious political issue that heats up after particularly shocking shootings such the one that took place in Baltimore.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation